MAURITANIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND

UNCLAS STATE 060562

SIPDIS

E.O. 12958: N/A
TAGS: KTIP ELAB KCRM KPAO KWMN PGOV PHUM PREL SMIG MR
SUBJECT: MAURITANIA -- 2009 TIP REPORT: PRESS GUIDANCE AND
DEMARCHE

REF: A. (A) STATE 59732

B. (B) STATE 005577


1. This is an action cable; see paras 5 through 7 and 10.


2. On June 16, 2009, at 10:00 a.m. EDT, the Secretary will
release the 2009 Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report at a
press conference in the Department's press briefing room.
This release will receive substantial coverage in domestic
and foreign news outlets. Until the time of the Secretary's
June 16 press conference, any public release of the Report or
country narratives contained therein is prohibited.


3. The Department is hereby providing Post with advance press
guidance to be used on June 16 or thereafter. Also provided
is demarche language to be used in informing the Government
of Mauritania of its tier ranking and the TIP Report's
imminent release. The text of the TIP Report country
narrative is provided, both for use in informing the
Government of Mauritania, and in any local media release by
Post's public affairs section on June 16 or thereafter.
Drawing on information provided below in paras 8 and 9, Post
may provide the host government with the text of the TIP
Report narrative no earlier than 1200 noon local time Monday
June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA countries and OOB local
time Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts. Please note,
however, that any public release of the Report's information
should not/not precede the Secretary's release at 10:00 am
EDT on June 16.


4. The entire TIP Report will be available on-line at
www.state.gov/g/tip shortly after the Secretary's June 16
release. Hard copies of the Report will be pouched to posts
in all countries appearing on the Report. The Secretary's
statement at the June 16 press event, and the statement of
and fielding of media questions by G/TIP,s Director and
Senior Advisor to the Secretary, Ambassador-at-Large Luis
CdeBaca, will be available on the Department's website
shortly after the June 16 event. Ambassador de Baca will
also hold a general briefing for officials of foreign
embassies in Washington DC on June 17 at 3:30 pm EDT.


5. Action Request: No earlier than 12 noon local time on
Monday June 15 for WHA, AF, EUR, and NEA posts and OOB local
time on Tuesday June 16 for SCA and EAP posts, please inform
the appropriate official in the Government of Mauritania of
the June 16 release of the 2009 TIP Report, drawing on the
points in para 9 (at Post's discretion) and including the
text of the country narrative provided in para 8. For
countries where the State Department has lowered the tier
ranking, it is particularly important to advise governments
prior to the Report being released in Washington on June 16.


6. Action Request continued: Please note that, for those
countries which will not receive an "action plan" with
specific recommendations for improvement, posts should draw
host governments' attention to the areas for improvement
identified in the 2009 Report, especially highlighted in the
"Recommendations" section of the second paragraph of the
narrative text. This engagement is important to establishing
the framework in which the government's performance will be
judged for the 2010 Report. If posts have questions about
which governments will receive an action plan, or how they
may follow up on the recommendations in the 2009 Report,
please contact G/TIP and the appropriate regional bureau.


7. Action Request continued: On June 16, please be prepared
to answer media inquiries on the Report's release using the
press guidance provided in para 11. If Post wishes, a local
press statement may be released on or after 10:30 am EDT June
16, drawing on the press guidance and the text of the TIP
Report's country narrative provided in para 8.


8. Begin Final Text of Mauritania,s country narrative in the
2009 TIP Report:

--------------

Mauritania (TIER 3)
--------------

Mauritania is a source and destination country for children
trafficked for forced labor and sexual exploitation.
Slavery-related practices, rooted in ancestral master-slave
relationships, continue to exist in isolated parts of the
country. Mauritanian boys called talibe are trafficked
within the country by religious teachers for forced begging.
Children are also trafficked by street gangs within the
country that force them to steal, beg, and sell drugs. Girls
are trafficked internally for domestic servitude and sexual
exploitation. Mauritanian children may also be trafficked
for forced agricultural and construction labor, herding, and
for forced labor in the fishing industry within the country.
Boys from Mali and Senegal are trafficked to Mauritania for
forced begging by religious teachers. Senegalese and Malian
girls are trafficked to Mauritania for domestic servitude and
forced prostitution. Ghanaian and Nigerian women and girls
may be trafficked to Mauritania for sexual exploitation.
Reports indicate that while some slaves are forced by their
masters to remain in conditions of servitude, others stay
with their masters because they lack land and other means to
live freely.

The Government of Mauritania does not fully comply with the
minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and is
not making significant efforts to do so. The government did
not show evidence of overall progress in prosecuting and
punishing trafficking offenders, protecting trafficking
victims, and preventing new incidents of trafficking.
Progress that the previous government demonstrated in 2007
through enactment of strengthened anti-slavery legislation
and deepened political will to eliminate slavery and
trafficking has stalled.

Recommendations for Mauritania: Improve on the current void
of anti-trafficking law enforcement efforts by investigating
and prosecuting slavery and other trafficking offenses, and
convicting and punishing trafficking offenders; consider
measures to allow NGOs to file complaints on behalf of
slaves; provide slaves with land and other resources to live
freely; increase assistance to child trafficking victims; end
the practice of penalizing children trafficked in
prostitution by placing them in prison and train authorities
to identify trafficking victims among children detained for
criminal conduct and illegal migrants; and increase efforts
to educate the public about slavery and trafficking.

Prosecution
--------------
The Government of Mauritania decreased its law enforcement
efforts to address human trafficking, including traditional
slavery practices. Mauritanian law prohibits all forms of
trafficking through its 2003 Law Against Trafficking in
Persons, which prescribes penalties of from five to 10
years, imprisonment that are sufficiently stringent and
exceed those prescribed for rape. Slavery is prohibited by
Law number 2007-048, which was enacted in September 2007.
This law defines slavery and prescribes an adequate penalty
of from five to 10 years, imprisonment. It supplements a
1981 anti-slavery ordinance that failed to prescribe
penalties or define slavery and it repeals a provision in the
ordinance compensating slave owners for the liberation of
their slaves. The law,s effectiveness, however, is hampered
by its requirement that slaves file a legal complaint before
a prosecution may be pursued. The law also bars NGOs from
filing complaints on behalf of slaves. Because many slaves
are illiterate, they are often unable to complete the
paperwork to file a legal complaint. Although the
government in 2007 pledged $7.5 million to combat slavery, a
portion of which was allocated to enforcing the new
anti-slavery law, the government failed to enforce this law.
The government reported no arrests or prosecutions of slave
holders or trafficking offenders during the year. Although
there were cases of slaves breaking free of masters, no legal
action was taken against the masters.

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) reportedly issued a directive
for the enforcement of the new anti-slavery law. The
ministry also reported to have sent delegations to all
regions of the country to educate local authorities about the
law. Local NGOs, however, were unaware of these initiatives.
Labor inspectors lack the basic resources, such as transport
and office equipment, needed to investigate forced labor
cases. In May 2008, the MOJ collaborated with UNICEF to host
a child trafficking seminar for judges and law enforcement
officials.
Protection
--------------
The Government of Mauritania demonstrated weak efforts to
protect victims of human trafficking, including slavery.
Although the government promised in 2007 to allocate funds in
the 2008 budget to provide former slaves with land and other
resources for their reintegration, this commitment was not
fulfilled; no government programs assisted former slaves
during the year. The government closed six centers that it
jointly funded with a donor in Nouakchott to provide care to
indigent children, many of whom were talibe.

The government did not encourage victims to assist in
trafficking investigations or prosecutions. Mauritania does
not provide legal alternatives to the removal of foreign
victims to countries where they face hardship or retribution.
Victims are inappropriately incarcerated or otherwise
penalized for unlawful acts committed as a direct result of
being trafficked. The government continued to place children
in jail for stealing or engaging in commercial sexual
activity, despite the fact that many of them are likely
trafficking victims who have been forced into these
activities. The government does not follow procedures to
identify trafficking victims among illegal immigrants
detained in a center in Nouadhibou, where conditions are
extremely harsh.

Prevention
--------------
The Government of Mauritania made inadequate efforts to raise
awareness of trafficking during the last year. In November
2008, the Ministry of Labor collaborated with the ILO to
organize a National Forum on Fundamental Labor Principles and
Rights. The government has not taken steps to reduce the
demand for forced and child labor, including trafficking and
slavery, or demand for commercial sex acts.



9. Post may wish to deliver the following points, which offer
technical and legal l background on the TIP Report process,
to the host government as a non-paper with the above TIP
Report country narrative:

(begin non-paper)

-- The U.S. Congress, through its passage of the 2000
Trafficking Victims Protection Act, as amended (TVPA),
requires the Secretary of State to submit an annual Report to
Congress. The goal of this Report is to stimulate action and
create partnerships around the world in the fight against
modern-day slavery. The USG approach to combating human
trafficking follows the TVPA and the standards set forth in
the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in
Persons, Especially Women and Children, supplementing the
United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized
Crime (commonly known as the "Palermo Protocol"). The TVPA
and the Palermo Protocol recognize that this is a crime in
which the victims, labor or services (including in the "sex
industry") are obtained or maintained through force, fraud,
or coercion, whether overt or through psychological
manipulation. While much attention has focused on
international flows, both the TVPA and the Palermo Protocol
focus on the exploitation of the victim, and do not require a
showing that the victim was moved.

-- Recent amendments to the TVPA removed the requirement that
only countries with a "significant number" of trafficking
victims be included in the Report. Beginning with the 2009
TIP Report, countries determined to be a country of origin,
transit, or destination for victims of severe forms of
trafficking are included in the Report and assigned to one of
three tiers. Countries assessed as meeting the "minimum
standards for the elimination of severe forms of trafficking"
set forth in the TVPA are classified as Tier 1. Countries
assessed as not fully complying with the minimum standards,
but making significant efforts to meet those minimum
standards are classified as Tier 2. Countries assessed as
neither complying with the minimum standards nor making
significant efforts to do so are classified as Tier 3.

-- The TVPA also requires the Secretary of State to provide a
"Special Watch List" to Congress later in the year.
Anti-trafficking efforts of the countries on this list are to
be evaluated again in an Interim Assessment that the
Secretary of State must provide to Congress by February 1 of
each year. Countries are included on the "Special Watch
List" if they move up in "tier" rankings in the annual TIP
Report -- from 3 to 2 or from 2 to 1 ) or if they have been
placed on the Tier 2 Watch List.

-- Tier 2 Watch List consists of Tier 2 countries determined:
(1) not to have made "increasing efforts" to combat human
trafficking over the past year; (2) to be making significant
efforts based on commitments of anti-trafficking reforms over
the next year, or (3) to have a very significant number of
trafficking victims or a significantly increasing victim
population. As indicated in reftel B, the TVPRA of 2008
contains a provision requiring that a country that has been
included on Tier 2 Watch List for two consecutive years after
the date of enactment of the TVPRA of 2008 be ranked as Tier

3. Thus, any automatic downgrade to Tier 3 pursuant to this
provision would take place, at the earliest, in the 2011 TIP
Report (i.e., a country would have to be ranked Tier 2 Watch
List in the 2009 and 2010 Reports before being subject to
Tier 3 in the 2011 Report). The new law allows for a waiver
of this provision for up to two additional years upon a
determination by the President that the country has developed
and devoted sufficient resources to a written plan to make
significant efforts to bring itself into compliance with the
minimum standards.

-- Countries classified as Tier 3 may be subject to statutory
restrictions for the subsequent fiscal year on
non-humanitarian and non-trade-related foreign assistance
and, in some circumstances, withholding of funding for
participation by government officials or employees in
educational and cultural exchange programs. In addition,
the President could instruct the U.S. executive directors to
international financial institutions to oppose loans or other
utilization of funds (other than for humanitarian,
trade-related or certain types of development assistance)
with respect to countries on Tier 3. Countries classified as
Tier 3 that take strong action within 90 days of the Report's
release to show significant efforts against trafficking in
persons, and thereby warrant a reassessment of their Tier
classification, would avoid such sanctions. Guidelines for
such actions are in the DOS-crafted action plans to be shared
by Posts with host governments.

-- The 2009 TIP Report, issuing as it does in the midst of
the global financial crisis, highlights high levels of
trafficking for forced labor in many parts of the world and
systemic contributing factors to this phenomenon: fraudulent
recruitment practices and excessive recruiting fees in
workers, home countries; the lack of adequate labor
protections in both sending and receiving countries; and the
flawed design of some destination countries, "sponsorship
systems" that do not give foreign workers adequate legal
recourse when faced with conditions of forced labor. As the
May 2009 ILO Global Report on Forced Labor concluded, forced
labor victims suffer approximately $20 billion in losses, and
traffickers, profits are estimated at $31 billion. The
current global financial crisis threatens to increase the
number of victims of forced labor and increase the associated
"cost of coercion."


-- The text of the TVPA and amendments can be found on
website www.state.gov/g/tip.

-- On June 16, 2009, the Secretary of State will release the
ninth annual TIP Report in a public event at the State
Department. We are providing you an advance copy of your
country's narrative in that report. Please keep this
information embargoed until 10:00 am Washington DC time June

16. The State Department will also hold a general briefing
for officials of foreign embassies in Washington DC on June
17 at 3:30 pm EDT.

(end non-paper)


10. Posts should make sure that the relevant country
narrative is readily available on or though the Mission's web
page in English and appropriate local language(s) as soon as
possible after the TIP Report is released. Funding for
translation costs will be handled as it was for the Human
Rights Report. Posts needing financial assistance for
translation costs should contact their regional bureau,s EX
office.


11. The following is press guidance provided for Post to use
with local media.

Q1: Why is Mauritania on Tier 3?

A: The Government of Mauritania does not fully comply with
the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking and
is not making significant efforts to do so. The government
did not show evidence of overall progress in prosecuting and
punishing trafficking offenders, protecting trafficking
victims, and preventing new incidents of trafficking.
Progress that the previous government demonstrated in 2007
through enactment of strengthened anti-slavery legislation
and deepened political will to eliminate slavery and
trafficking has stalled.

Q2: What progress has Mauritania made in the last year?

A: In May 2008, the Ministry of Justice collaborated with
UNICEF to host a child trafficking seminar for judges and law
enforcement officials. In November 2008, the Ministry of
Labor collaborated with the ILO to organize a National Forum
on Fundamental Labor Principles and Rights.

Q3: What can Mauritania do to further the fight against
trafficking in persons?

A: Improve on the current void of anti-trafficking law
enforcement efforts by investigating and prosecuting slavery
and other trafficking offenses, and convicting and punishing
trafficking offenders; consider measures to allow NGOs to
file complaints on behalf of slaves; provide slaves with land
and other resources to live freely; increase assistance to
child trafficking victims; end the practice of penalizing
children trafficked in prostitution by placing them in prison
and train authorities to identify trafficking victims among
children detained for criminal conduct and illegal migrants;
and increase efforts to educate the public about slavery and
trafficking.



12. The Department appreciates posts, assistance with the
preceding action requests.
CLINTON